Under the Bright Stars
by scorpiusss
Summary: Hermione receives a wedding invitation and goes to Thailand with her friends. It's all fun an games until a former Slytherin comes there too and has to sleep the same room as our favourite bookworm. Harry and Draco are co-workers and he is Harry's groomsman in the wedding. Oh man how I suck at summaries.
1. The invitation

**Hello, it's Matthew! This is my first story ever being published, so be nice with the reviews, haha! So sorry if I've made stupid grammar mistakes, I'll blame it for my Finnish nationality - meaning I only study English. A beta would be appreciated, so if you're interested, hit me up! **

**Enough with the small talk, here's the first chapter:**

**1. ****The invitation**

Hermione stood in her balcony in the heart of New York, with a beautiful white invitation in her hands. She had just received it ten minutes ago, and was still re-reading it over and over again. The first time her eyes had just hovered over the text, thinking it was just a dull invitation to some press conference, but after realizing it was a wedding invitation, it got her full attention. And it wasn't just any wedding invitation. It was from Harry and Ginny. They were finally getting married.

The whole invitation had came to Hermione as a surprise. Well, she knew they were encaged, as they had informed her about it a year ago, but that she was actually invited. After she had moved to New York six years ago, she slowly started to grow apart from Harry, Ginny, Luna and all her former friends. She wasn't happy about it, but it just how her life had gone. Actually, she had been dating Ron and he had moved to America with Hermione, but after five years of being together, Ron told her he wanted a break, and that break turned into their break-up. After Ron had moved out of their flat during the 'break', Hermione hadn't seen him ever since.

Even though the whole break had came out of the blue to Hermione and she had been sad and furious with her longtime boyfriend for not explaining himself, not all his actions were despicable. For example, he had introduced his assistant, Emily, to Hermione. Emily was short and blonde, a lot different from Hermione. She was ready to slap a bitch and was very spontaneous. When the women had met, they had instantly clicked and after a while, they became best friends. Emily was a good listener and she always gave the best advices. She had been there for Hermione when Ron stopped contacting her and the brunette was beyond grateful for that. Sometimes, Hermione wished she'd be a bit like Emily. Not afraid of anything. Okay, Hermione wasn't afraid of battling against dark wizards and that sort of stuff obviously, but she was afraid to be fierce and take a full control over things. Hermione sometimes thought Ron was the reason why she was like that. The ginger was usually very nice and kind and not the one to actually grab her, pin against a wall and heat things up. That meant their sex wasn't exciting. It was okay, but nothing too special. Therefor Hermione, who had craved excitement and sexual tension, didn't know how to be mysterious and sexy. Ron didn't make her feel sexy. Hermione was independent enough to not miss Ron or think about getting in touch with him and possibly getting back together, but sometimes she wondered how he was and what would they now be if things would've gone like in fairytales. She had asked Emily about him a couple times, but she always just muttered something like 'he's doing fine'. That was her way to tell Hermione she shouldn't be asking such questions about that asshole.

But enough about Ron and back to the invitation.

The invitation quickly explained where the wedding was held and at what time etcetera. What made it so dumbfounding was, that Hermione was invited to spend a month with Harry, Ginny and some of their friends in a beach house in an island called Koh Lipe in Thailand. The invitation to the island had been in the flipside of the actual wedding invitation.

"_Dear Hermione,_

_I hope you're doing fine there in America. We haven't heard anything about you in a long time! We miss you a lot. _

_As you can see, we invited you to our wedding we are going to have in Thailand in 4th of July. We're really excited about that! There's more to that, than just the wedding though. We, Harry and I, rented a beach house from the island where we're having our wedding. It's really big and we're going to be there for a month. After that we're going to spend a week in the hotel we're having our actual ceremony and reception. We would love you to join us there! Some others are coming too, like Neville, Luna, George and Angelina for example. Also few of Harry's co-workers are coming too. The other one is Ryan, who's a real hottie! My cousin Marnie is coming too. They'd all love to see you too. Harry took the liberty to contact your boss Mr. Evans and arranged you a vacation from work. Harry and Evans are good friends (they used to play Quidditch together in Sundays about a year ago. Small world, isn't it!) so it wasn't a problem to him at all. I guess you got the image of this being an invitation, but actually this is a command. You have to come! _

_With love, _

_Ginny and Harry."_

Hermione exhaled after reading the letter out loud. She couldn't believe they had contacted her boss from the American wizarding magazine and arrange her a month off. The brunette detangled the stray of hair she had been rolling between her fingers and winced for the pain. One million thoughts were all racing through her head at the same time and she had to sit down to the windowsill. She really hadn't been in a regular contact with any of her school friends, and all of a sudden she was asked to spend a whole month with them. Hermione folded the letter back to it's envelope. Part of her was excited and ready to pack, but another part of her was hesitating and unsure about the whole trip. Her work situation was under control, thanks to Harry apparently, so the woman didn't really have an excuse not to go.

What if Ron would be there? Sure he would. He was Ginny's brother. Hermione swallowed and placed the closed, white envelope to the windowsill next to where she was sitting.

Hermione was excited about seeing her friends, but she was still unsure about what if she'd see Ron there. What would happen then? Would they develop a relationship again? Hermione didn't really have any feelings towards him anymore, but who knew, right? And what about her friends then. She hadn't seen them in years and was quite unsure how to act around them. Would it all be awkward? Hermione decided to get some sleep and think about the whole situation tomorrow with a clear mind.

There were three firm knocks on Hermione's door. It was Emily. She was the only one who knocked like that. Well, she was also the only one who even visited her unannounced. Hermione lifted her wand and waved it, opening the door without getting up from her bedroom floor, where she had a straight eye contact to her front door. She saw a blonde hair peeking through the crack of the front door and looking left and right.

"I'm right here, you dummy", Hermione smiled and made her friend look at her with a grin.

"I knew that." Emily opened the door fully and stepped into the hall, walking to Hermione's room and sitting down next to her.

"What's up with all these piles of clothes?" She asked, lifting one of Hermione's summer dresses from the floor. The room was filled with clothes, shoes, bags and in front of Hermione, there were two big, purple suitcases.

"I'm packing, isn't it obvious?"

"You decided to go?" Emily asked with a lifted eyebrow. Hermione had told her all about the invitation to the beach house and her concerns about Ron and her other friends. Emily had been supportive but she still seemed surprised about the fact Hermione actually had finally decided to leave.

"Yeah. I need to see my friends. I love them to death and I can't believe I've let myself distance them from me", Hermione sighed and folded her turquoise, wavy dress.

"Hey, I'm your friend too", Emily teased. "What about Ron? Do you think you'll be able to handle it if he's going to be there?"

"Do I have any other choices? Besides, I'm not going to let him be in the way of seeing the people I grew up with. That would just be stupid."

"Right. Do you need help with the packing?" Emily offered and Hermione nodded. After a while of comfortable silence, Emily inhaled heavily and opened his mouth.

"Actually, I think I have to tell you something." Hermione lifted her face to meet Emily's bright, concerned green eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione stopped folding her tank tops.

"Yes, everything's great. It's just that… uh…", for the first time ever, Emily actually seemed to be out of words, which made Hermione nervous. Emily was always ready to speak and wasn't the one to stutter.

"Well? Spit it out", Hermione demanded.

"I got the invitation too. To Koh Lipe", she finally said. Hermione's eyebrows lifted and her mouth opened slightly. What? Emily had been invited too? Hermione did know she had spent a bit time with Harry and Ginny, but not enough to actually be considered as one of their close friends, in Hermione's opinion.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I really have no explanation on why I didn't", Emily dropped her eyes to her lap.

"I don't get it. When did you get it?" Hermione asked, dumbfounded.

"A month ago. At the same time you did", she sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me? It's such a small thing. Besides if I would've known, I would've been much more calmer and not so nervous about this whole trip, Emily." The blonde squeezed her arm and didn't lift her face to meet Hermione's.

"I know. I'm so, so sorry. I have no idea why I didn't tell you. Ugh, I'm so stupid", Emily slapped lightly her forehead, making Hermione grin a bit. The brunette truly was confused and a bit mad at her friend for not telling her. There was no reason not to.

"I guess I was just afraid of what you'd say. I mean they're your friends after all and I wouldn't want you to feel like I'd be intruding your territory", Emily explained. Hermione thought about that. Did she feel like her best friend was coming to her area? Not really.

"I mean it's a bit weird, since I didn't know Harry and Ginny even remembered you, no offence, but it's fine to me. I'm just glad you're coming there. I couldn't bare over a month without you", Hermione said and continued packing. Without a warning, Emily wrapped her arms around Hermione's neck and hugged her tightly.

"Whoa, I'm not completely happy with you, young lady, but not entirely mad either", she laughed. Emily giggled back and apologized again for her actions. They continued packing Hermione's belongings in peace and the brunette couldn't stop smiling. She thought about her and Emily. That was the thing about the two; even though one of them did something entirely stupid and unexplainable, they always figured things out. Hermione didn't really understand why Emily had hid the fact she had been invited to the island too, but after hearing her explanation, it wasn't as dumb as it seemed. I mean, would've Hermione tell her immediately if she would've been invited somewhere by Emily's friends? Maybe she would've mentioned it sooner and not the night before leaving, but still. Emily and Hermione were different at some things. And that was one of the things why they were best mates.

"Do you want to use the same portkey?" Hermione asked.

"Dude, they're bracelets. We can't both use the same small object."

"Yes we can. It doesn't matter how big the object is. Once we had ten people using the same boot to get to the Quidditch worldcup and it was completely fine", Hermione said.

"Yeah but we have all the luggages and everything. I rather use my own bracelet."

"I'm going to use a spell to make my suitcases smaller, but okay if you want to travel by yourself." Hermione couldn't help to be a bit offended. Again, the brunette couldn't quite understand Emily's actions, but sometimes the blonde witch just was like that.

After a couple more hours of the women chatting and having a few glasses of red wine, Emily left and Hermione went to her bedroom to check her wardrobe. She had packed almost every single piece of clothing the woman owned, which wasn't that much to be honest. Hermione collapsed on her bed and sighed deeply. Tomorrow she was supposed to face her friends she hadn't seen in a long, long time. At the same time, the thought terrified her and made her excited. Hermione had decided not to think about the fact if she'd be able to be herself around Ginny and others, but as the departure came closer and closer, it jumped back in to her mind. Hermione shook her head.

"Concentrate. It will be fine. They will be normal to you and you will act normal around them."

With that thought, the exhausted brunette fell asleep.

Soooooo... yeah! There it was. Hope you enjoyed *nervous sweating*. Please let me know if you liked or not!


	2. Welcome Back

**A/N:** Second chapter! Oh and to be clear, most of the characters are J.K. Rowling's aka the queen's and I don't own anything but the plot and the characters that you do not recognize from the books.

**2. Welcome Back**

Hermione had woken up around six o'clock, even though the portkey didn't start working until six in the afternoon. Through the night, Hermione had had dreams where Ginny, Luna and Angelina, George's wife, were talking shit about her behind her back. They were pointing at her and laughing. It terrified her, to be honest. She knew it wouldn't be like that. I mean, they all were grown-ups. That would be beyond juvenile, right?

It was now four o'clock and Hermione was having her afternoon tea. Usually the woman drank it at five, but today she was supposed to actually do her hair and care about how she looked. Hermione wanted everyone to know she was doing fine and healthy, and nothing but a polished appearance told it better. Emily had stopped by in the morning, making sure Hermione was still leaving. She was always there to check up on her. The former Gryffindor couldn't ask for a better friend.

Hermione scuffed back to her bedroom and opened her wardrobe for the third time today. She had three dresses hanging there, all different color and shape. She took the first one, which was a white peplum dress with golden details. Hermione slipped it on, struggling with the zipper on the back. The brunette tied her long hair in to a messy bun, since it was making her sweaty and annoyed. Sometimes Hermione thought about cutting the damn thing.

After the battle with the zipper, Hermione skipped to the other side of her room where her body-length mirror was. The woman turned around in her tiptoes, liking the way the fabric kissed her slightly tanned skin. Hermione didn't usually stay in the sun because of the lack of spare time, but she worked outside quite a lot, so the sun had painted her skin.

"Should I wear this?" Hermione asked herself out loud. She usually talked to herself when no one was listening.

"Wait, white is the color of the bride. I don't want to wear this if Ginny's wearing white today. It could be disrespectful. Not the first day I'm going to be there", she worried, again speaking to herself. Hermione undressed and hanged the dress back to where it had been. She stood in front of her wardrobe in her black, lacy underwear. They were the ones she felt the most confident in; they were feminine, sexy and made her bum look way much better than it was in reality.

The next dress hanging in the middle, was a navy blue maxi dress. It was easy to get on, but it wasn't comfortable. Hermione didn't have issues with her body, and she loved the way she looked, but the brunette figured it could be too hot to wear something that covered her legs. After all, Thailand was a pretty hot place. Hermione tossed the long dress aside and took the last dress which was a wavy, black summer dress with an open back covered in lace. The skirts wavy hem ended in mid-thigh. Hermione stood in front of her mirror, pleased with the sight. She added a few silver bracelets around her hands and silver earrings to match them. Because Hermione was the type to sweat under her heavy hair, she decided to make a messy, curly bun. It turned out to be better than expected, even though she had to struggle with it for half an hour. To finish her look, the brunette took few strays of hair to both side of her face, and slipped black wedge heels with an ankle strap to her feet. She wasn't sure if the shoes were suitable to the place she was going, but they were going to have to do at least for a while. She had her gladiator- and regular sandals with her to wear in the beach, and few more heels to put on when having a dinner or some sort of a party. Hermione wasn't quite sure what to pack there, because even though she had talked to Harry and Ginny during the past month, when she had to inform if she'd come or not, they didn't really tell if they had any activities planned for the over month long trip. Due to that, Hermione wasn't sure what to take with her, so she took summer dresses, shorts, cocktail dresses, a maxi dress to wear on the beach, tops and the list went on and on.

Hermione sat once again in her kitchen, just staring at the clock on the white wall. It didn't seem to go on at all. It was five to six and she was getting more and more anxious. It felt so weird to be stressed out about a small thing like this. The people she was going to spend time with were her best friends and there was no reason to be so goddamn scared. Right, fine, what kind of a friend doesn't contact her childhood friends or even attempt to see them? That's right. A shitty one. Hermione sighed as a wave of guilt came over her. She slapped herself lightly on the cheek and decided to concentrate on the positive. Harry and Ginny wouldn't have invited her if they didn't want her to come and that was a fact. After a week from receiving the invitation, Hermione had called Harry and they had talked and laughed for an hour. Harry had been genuinely happy to spend over a month with his now-American friend. Hermione was happy about that too.

The clock came closer and closer to six. Just two minutes before the due, Hermione picked up her phone and dialed a number she remembered by heart. The phone rang a few times before it was picked up.

"Hermione? What is it? You're not going to back out, are you?" Emily asked with a concerned tone.

"No, nothing like that. I just wanted to check if you're ready to leave. I've been waiting for my bracelet to turn into a portkey for the past thirty minutes", Hermione said. Her voice was a bit strict unintentionally.

"Don't be so nervous, Hermione!" Emily laughed, "I can't come right at six. I have to get my work done and then come. I think I'll be done at seven or eight."

"Seven or eight?"

"Yeah. You'll do fine. They're your friends! You don't need me to be there right away. You'll handle it", Emily reassured.

"I wasn't concerned about how I'm going to handle it. I just wanted to check if you're coming right away or not", Hermione rushed to convince.

"Right. Well I'll see you later; I need to get back to work now. Love you lots! Bye." With that, Emily hung up. Hermione sighed and placed her phone back to her purse. Emily had seen right through her. In reality Hermione had indeed called her to somehow get a reassurance on leaving, and Emily had given her just that. Bless that perky blonde.

Hermione grabbed her shrunken suitcases and glanced at the watch. It was one minute over six. She looked at the bracelet on her kitchen table and with her eyes closed, the brunette touched it and started spinning.

Hermione didn't dare to open her eyes. She was laying on something rather soft. She heard the waves break to the shore and sun warming her eyelids. Few birds tweeted from somewhere above her, and the air smelled like different flowers and salty seawater. It smelled exotic. Hermione spread her arms and touched the ground. It was sand. She had landed on a beach. Opening her eyes slowly, one after the other, she realized how beautiful it all was; turquoise water, sea shells, long beach, palm trees, colorful birds… it made her sigh in awe. Hermione buried her hands to the sand and grabbed some of it on her palms, slowly pouring it back to the ground. The sand was hot and pure. Hermione got on her feet and looked around. She heard people talking, giggling and screaming over joyment, but wasn't sure where the noises were coming from. Hermione lifted her hand to cover her eyes from the sun, being now able to look around more properly. She hadn't landed in the middle of the beach, but more like into a small, private looking part of the beach that was surrounded by exotic trees. It was only about ten meters wide. Hermione had no clue where to go from there, so she grabbed her suitcases and made her way towards the noises. Turned out they were coming from the actual, proper beach that started right after the palm trees Hermione was just a second ago surrounded by. Hermione saw children playing in the sand and running to the sea, elder people tanning, young boys trying to flirt girls in bikinis and there were even few beach bars. The other one was a bit more posh than the other, which was a reggae bar filled with men wearing loose clothes and smoking joints. There was something relaxing in the sight. As Hermione proceed to continue her walk, she tripped over. She cursed under her breath. The sand was probably not the right place to wear heels.

"Are you okay?" Someone with a thick British accent asked behind the fallen woman. Hermione turned her head to face a man with dark brown hair in fully clothing, looking down at her. His head covered the sun, so his face seemed much more darker than it actually was.

"Yeah, thanks", Hermione felt embarrassed. The man had seen her fall down. How iconic.

"Let me help you up", the man smirked and offered his hand. He easily pulled Hermione up, who then started to remove her shoes. She felt slightly awkward standing next to a complete stranger, and taking her heels off. He probably thought she had come to the beach purposely wearing them.

"I'm Ryan, by the way", he introduced himself.

"Hermione. Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you", she smiled as she lifted her leg to get rid of her left shoe.

"Oh, you're Harry's friend, right?" Hermione lifted her eyes to meet his, and raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. How do you…"

"I'm his co-worker. I'm here for the wedding." The two had started walking away from the beach to the road that led Merlin knows where. Hermione was now able to see him properly, and she had to admit he was quite charming with his big, brown eyes and long eyelashes. His cheekbones were sharp and shoulders wide. He was wearing dark blue shorts and a light blue button-up. His hair was in a quiff and it suited him well.

"I thought I recognized your name from somewhere", Hermione said and made him smile. Ginny had mentioned in her invitation. The two walked along the road for a while in an awkward silence, before Ryan spoke.

"Do you have any idea where we're supposed to go?" Hermione blushed. She thought he was aware of their location better than she was.

"Uh… to be honest, I'm completely lost." Ryan laughed good-naturedly. "I guess we just have to walk along this road and see where it takes us", Hermione suggested and he agreed. The road was a bit jungle-like with all the trees and fruits around it. The sand was burning under Hermione's bare feet.

"Are you excited to spend this month here?" Ryan asked, shattering the silence.

"Definitely. I haven't seen any of my friends in ages. What about you?"

"Yeah, even though I see all of them every single week. We usually spend the Sundays together making food and playing muggle board games." His response made Hermione a bit jealous. She was just one Apparation or portkey away from her friends, yet she never visited them. Hermione wasn't even aware they were gathering together in Sundays. She felt left-out, even though it was almost completely her own fault.

"Well, I see one of them every day," was Ryan dating some of her friends? Hermione hadn't heard anything like that, but what did she know now-a-days anyway, "one of the guests is mine and Harry's co-worker too, and my roommate. I don't know if you know him. He's a really nice guy, just like me", Ryan said and made Hermione laugh a bit.

"What's his na…"

"Harry!" Ryan interrupted her and started waving his hand in the air. Hermione had been looking at the man next to her, but as soon as he opened his mouth to shout, she snapped her face towards the road. She saw a Jeep approaching them, and apparently Harry was driving it. Hermione had never seen him driving, so the look of it was rather ridiculous.

"I thought I'd find you here", Harry smirked as he stopped next to the pair.

"Harry!" Hermione was filled with joy the minute he spoke. She climbed to the backseat after Ryan opened the door for her. He was quite a gentleman. Hermione positioned herself behind Harry and as soon as she had her seatbelt on, the bushy haired leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around Harry.

"I've missed you", Hermione said with a wide smile. She felt her heart warm and she was ready to cry from joy. It honestly had been a long time since she had seen Harry the last time. Harry grabbed her palms and squeezed them.

"I've missed you too. We all have. Glad to have you here, Hermione", he smiled and let go of her hands, then starting to turn around the vehicle.

"I can't really say I've missed you, mate. I saw you yesterday", Ryan said from the front seat. Harry laughed and Hermione couldn't stop smiling. It wasn't really because of the brunet man's joke, but because she was just happy to be so close to Harry again.

"Oh come on, I know you've cried yourself to sleep thinking of me", Harry said and started driving along the jumpy road. During the small drive trip from the beach to the house, Harry told them about the island they were staying in. It wasn't too big, the center was just a couple kilometers away from the beach house and there were few restaurants, bars, a bridal store, clothing shops and a grocery store. There also were three different beaches nearby them to go to, and the house they were staying in had a huge pool with a waterfall in it. It all sounded too good to be true to Hermione. She didn't regret at all coming there.

The streets of Koh Lipe were breathtaking. They weren't packed with people, but there were tuk-tuk taxis, children playing, and she even saw a few elephants on the way. Hermione got excited and screamed joyfully when a small infant elephant crossed the road with its owner. Ryan and Harry laughed at her inner child.

"Ginny was just like you when we arrived here last night. We were eating in a restaurant at the center and they had monkeys there that the waiters brought to the table to entertain the guests. It was really fun", Harry explained.

"Do the monkeys enjoy doing tricks to entertain people? Or are they forced to do that?" Hermione didn't want poor animals who couldn't talk to suffer because of dumb people.

"Don't worry, they seemed very happy with their life. And they actually let them be free. The monkeys kind of come to the restaurants by themselves." Harry reassured. He then told Ryan all about Hermione's club for freeing the house-elves. It made her maybe cringe a bit, but she still was proud of her actions.

"Hey, I just think everyone's equal and no one should be kept as a slave." Harry laughed and nodded in agreement and Ryan turned in his seat to face her.

"I think what you did was great. Even though house-elves like doing others work", he said with a genuine smile. Hermione nodded and turned to look at the streets again with a huge smile painted on her face. Ryan's comment actually made her feel really good, even though she hadn't even thought about her little club in years.

After the main road, Harry turned in to a narrow, sandy road surrounded by a similar jungle like in the beach. They drove it for about 500 meters, when a huge yard and a house were in their sight.

Hermione's eyes grew wider the more she realized how big the place actually was. Harry drove the Jeep in front of the house, where were two more cars. Hermione hopped out of the car with Harry's help and kept her eyes locked in the huge, white house. It had three floors and thick pillars and the stairs leading to the front door and patio, were marble. It looked a bit like Taj Mahal without the Indian looks and the huge dome.

"Are you serious?" Ryan asked. He was just as dumbfounded as Hermione.

"Wait 'til you see the rest", Harry smirked and collected Hermione's luggage she had made big again with a simple spell. The trio walked up the stairs surrounded by different flowers and plants. Hermione wanted just to watch it all for an hour or two. Never had she ever been in a place like this. She couldn't wait for Emily to come.

The patio surrounding the front door had a coffee table and two chairs around it. Hermione noticed they were at least five meters above the ground. She inhaled deeply and tried to process it all. This place was amazing, and she hadn't even been inside yet.

Harry opened the pair doors and stepped inside, Ryan and Hermione following right behind. Immediately two Thai boys in plain white clothes came up to them and greeted.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs…?" They asked.

"Oh, we're not… I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ryan uh… What is your surname?" Hermione rushed with an explanation.

"Ryan Diggory."

"Diggory?" Hermione asked without even thinking. Was he related to Cedric Diggory?

"Uh… y-yes?" Ryan was taken aback from her sudden question, but Hermione didn't have any time to explain when the Thai boys started speaking again.

"Our apologies. Welcome Miss Granger and Mister Diggory. May we please have your luggage?"

"Oh, here", Harry handed Hermione's purple suitcases and Ryan gave his own to the young men who bowed and hurried off.

"They didn't introduce themselves. Who were they?" Hermione asked.

"Servants. They are here to cook, make drinks, give massages and stuff like that for us."

"That's cruel! We're not the Malfoys, for Merlins sake." Harry rolled his eyes and Ryan bursted into laughter.

"Malfoys, that's funny", he said between his gasps of air.

"They are getting paid a lot from this so don't worry, Hermione. Anyway, you're the first ones here so let's go meet Ginny. We're going to talk about the sleeping arrangements."

Hermione and Ryan followed Harry from the lobby to the living room, where Hermione saw Ginny in a white, beautiful maxi dress, reading a book and drinking a cocktail.

"Hermione!" She shouted and tossed the book away, running up to Hermione who felt the tears coming unintentionally.

"I've missed you so much", Hermione whispered in her ear. They had been best friends since they were young teenagers, and knowing they hadn't been in touch for so long made her so sad. Hermione could've excused herself with saying she didn't have time etcetera, but those weren't good enough reasons not to even call or floo to see the red haired woman.

"I've missed you too. You have no idea how glad I am for you coming here", Ginny responded and wrapped her arms around Hermione tighter. Hermione felt Ginny's tears on her bare cheek and loosened the hug, looking straight in to Ginny's eyes with her hands resting on the bride's arms.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been in touch with you. You honestly don't know how bad I feel about it. I know you've tried to arrange meetings with me but I've always excused myself and…"

"Shut up, Hermione. It's fine. You're here now and that's all that matters", Ginny smiled. Hermione felt a rock rolling from her heart. Hearing those words from Ginny were all she ever wanted to hear.

"Anyway, hi to you too, Ryan! How was the trip?" Ginny asked and wiped the tears off her face, then grabbing Hermione's hand and holding it in her own.

"You know, the usual. Spinning, feeling like I'm about to vomit and so on. I'm feeling much better now." Both of the women laughed.

"Good. Do you want something to drink? The strawberry margaritas are Merlinmade. I guess the beers are good too, you know I don't fancy beer, Ryan", Ginny said and both of the first guests to arrive agreed to have some alcohol in their blood.

After receiving their beverages, the Ryan, Hermione and Harry followed Ginny to the backyard patio, where were outdoor couches and tables. Hermione looked around more, curious of the place she was going to live the next month. She saw a huge pool with the waterfall in it, just like Harry had mentioned. There also was a volleyball court, a golf court, a whirlpool bath and a barbeque stand. The backyard was huge and there were flowers everywhere; the place was like a giant garden with a spa in it.

"I have no words to this place. This is beyond amazing", Hermione breathed and sat down next to Ryan in the patio.

"The indoors are just as amazing. You can wander around when we let you go out of our sight", Harry said with a smirk and took a sip of his beer. The four chatted about this and that; Ryan told about his work project, Ginny was worried her mum and dad would show up any minute to watch after the lot and Harry was just happy to be finally able to marry the love of his life. Hermione was more than happy for them and tried not to think about herself and how bad her man-situation was. This trip wasn't about her. It was about Harry and Ginny and them finally getting each other fully.

"I remember you said something about the sleeping situation, Harry?" Ryan said.

"Yeah. We have paired up all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and they are going to share a room. For example, Luna and Neville are sharing a room, Angelina and George are sharing one and Ryan, you're going to sleep with Marnie…"

"Your cousin?" Ryan asked from Ginny, who nodded. Hermione noticed he seemed a bit disappointed. Did he not like Marnie? Hermione had never even heard of her, but assumed she was going to be a really nice girl. All of the Weasley's women she knew were total sweethearts. Soon Hermione realized something.

"I'm not your bridesmaid, though." Ginny hadn't told her not one bit about the wedding.

"You didn't think I wouldn't ask you to be one? I thought it was obvious, dummy! Of course you're walking to the altar with us and stand there as we're being wedded", Ginny said with a surprised tone. Hermione instantly hugged her. She had thought about the subject after receiving the invitation to the wedding and it saddened her a bit Ginny hadn't asked her to be a bridesmaid, but she didn't want to ask about it or push it to her. It would've seem greedy and rude. Hermione hopped up from the couch and hugged Ginny, who laughed with surprise and patted her on the back. Hermione thanked her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"What about Emily? You invited her too, so who is she going to share a room with?" Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and they both seemed to avoid the whole question.

"Well? What, have you asked Goyle to your wedding?" Hermione laughed, but inside she was a bit nervous. Was she going to share a room with…

"No, don't be silly. She's sharing with Ron", Ginny finally said. Hermione's jaw dropped slightly and the woman tried to cover it up by drinking her margarita. Well it was more like pouring it in her mouth rather than just taking a feminine sip. She instantly felt goosebumps, just thinking about the two having to sleep together for a month. The joy she had gotten from being a bridesmaid was now long gone. Emily was not going to be happy about this. She thought Ron was a coward for not ending Hermione's and his relationship, but just disappeared. She did work for him, but it was purely because she needed money, and the salary being Ron's assistant was good.

"I see. What about me? I'm left with your other co-worker, right? Who is he?" Hermione was still really dumbfounded about the news she just heard, but was eager to hear who was left for her. Was he someone she knew?

"Uh…" Harry started.

"Come on. Crabbe?" Hermione joked. All three looked at each other, which made Hermione's jaw tighten. Was it really going to be Crabbe? No way.

"Hermione!" Her head snapped towards the door they had entered the backyard. It was Luna who had shouted and behind her, Neville stood in his Hawaii –type t-shirt and shorts. He looked so dorky it was adorable. Both of them had wide smiles on their faces and Hermione instantly saw the small bump on the dreamy blonde's belly.

"Luna! Neville! You're having a child?!" She practically shouted. All of them laughed good-naturedly as Hermione half ran to hug them and touch her belly. Luna seemed very proud of it.

"Five months behind, four more to go", Neville smiled and kept placed his hands on Luna's shoulders.

"I'm so happy for you", Hermione cheered and let the two sit down to the loveseat she had been sitting on. Neville had offered to stand, but Hermione insisted he sat down. They had took the muggleway to get to Koh Lipe, because even though it was safe to use portkey whilst being pregnant, no one knew how the landing was going to be. And because of that they didn't want to risk anything. Hermione asked all about their pregnancy and forgot about the whole room thing. Turned out the pair was expecting a girl, and had thought about naming her Xenophilla, which was a weird mixture of Luna's dad's name Xenophilius and Neville. It was a bit odd, but they were Luna and Neville so what was she expecting anyway. Time passed and soon Angelina and Fred arrived too. By then, Emily should've come too, but Hermione reckoned she had to do some extra work or maybe the blonde was just trying to decide what to wear. Ron hadn't also appeared yet, but Hermione didn't really mind.

Hermione was talking with the women as the men were starting the barbeque. The Thai servants had offered to do it, but after Hermione gave Harry a look of disapproval, he sent them away. Besides, it was more fun to do things as a group rather than let other people always do them.

"So, Hermione. Do you have anyone in your life at the moment?" Angelina asked. She was usually a bit quiet, but after a couple of margaritas the woman started talking.

"Oh no. I'm happy by myself", Hermione answered, not exactly truthfully. She didn't need a man to make her happy, but it would've been nice to have someone who complimented her every now and then, made her feel special and listen to her. Hermione had missed those days when she could just wake up next to someone she loved and spend the day with them wearing nothing but pajamas. Not that she necessarily knew what that felt like, because Ron was always working so they didn't have time to just cuddle and watch dorky films.

"Well you're in no rush. You're young and beautiful", Angelina complimented and all Hermione could think of, was _not for long. _Instead of saying that out loud, the brunette just laughed and brushed it off.

"You ladies should go and check your rooms while the food is getting ready", Harry said and all of them agreed.

"I think Marnie and your roommate are going to be here soon. They use the same portkey", Ginny said as the women were walking towards the main hall.

"Who am I sharing a room with anyway?" Hermione was getting impatient. It seemed like everyone were avoiding the subject.

"Lei!" Ginny shouted, ignoring Hermione's question. A young man came and bowed quickly.

"Could you show Hermione where her room is?" Lei nodded and started walking up the white marble stairs in the main hall. He was pacing up the stairs quickly so Hermione in her heels almost tripped over.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Do you need me to slow down?" He asked politely and slightly horrified.

"No don't worry about it. I'm fine", Hermione smiled. She didn't want Lei to feel bad about how fast he was. He nodded and kept on walking. They came to the second floor, where was a big lobby and corridors. Lei didn't stop there, but continued to the third and final floor which was almost an exact replica of the second floor, but the floor wasn't marble but dark wood and the curtains were deep dark red. She wasn't sure if it was more romantic or scary. Lei chose the corridor on their left and walked straight to the end.

"This is your room, miss. In this floor, you can also find a small relaxation room with mud bath,…", Hermione's jaw dropped. A mud bath? She was definitely going there at some point. The brunette didn't even hear what Lei said after that, but figured it didn't matter. Hermione loved wandering around so she'd find everything later.

"Thank you, Lei. I think I'm good from here", she said and the man hurried off. Hermione looked at her huge, wooden door and was sort of afraid of what it held in. She knew for sure it was going to be a big, marvelous room with amazing details. The whole house was, so why wouldn't this room be? The woman inhaled with excitement and opened the door, stepping in to a huge square room. Right in front of her, there were two queen-sized curtain canopy beds with pillows so big Hermione could've had four heads on each two pillows to fill them. Between the beds, there was a nightstand with a lamp on it. Hermione looked around in awe. She saw two big wardrobes and her clothes were folded and hanged on the other. She felt a bit awkward that the two Thai boys had been going through her lingerie, but she guessed they had done that before to others too. On the other side of the room, a fireplace was waiting for fire, which was a bit unnecessary since they were in Thailand. A red loveseat matched with the light curtains on the Victorian style windows and the bookshelf on the corner was wide and filled with different adventures. Hermione knew she could spend there the whole vacation and not even look outside. The room was beyond the brunette's wildest imaginations.

She sat on the bed next to the window and sighed. Hermione didn't even remember her fears of being rejected by her friends. Actually, she felt stupid for even thinking about that. She laid down on the comfy mattress and spread her arms. For a moment, she forgot about everything.

**A/N:** Why is it so hard to say something after the chapter? Next chapter we're getting a bit Malfoy action, so stay tuned! I guess it'll be posted before anyone even reads this so uh... :D But yeah anyway


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